Remembering Dino De Laurentiis

The prolific movie megaproducer Dino De Laurentiis died this week at the age of ninety-one. One of the most powerful and influential figures in cinema history, De Laurentiis was responsible for more than 150 films over the course of a seven-decade career, both in his native Italy and in Hollywood. He was particularly revered by cinephiles for producing some of the visionary early films of Federico Fellini, includingLa stradaandNights of Cabiria.When we released the latter on DVD in 1998, we included an audio interview with De Laurentiis, conducted by David D’Arcy for National Public Radio, in which he recounts a charming anecdote about the film’s postproduction, specifically his disagreement with Fellini over the film’s haunting “Man with the Sack” sequence, which resulted in an amusingly drastic turn of events. We’re presenting the interview online for the first time now. It’s an intriguing peek into the (sometimes contentious) collaboration between director and producer, as well as a perfect expression of this tireless cinema lover’s own vision for his films. Thanks to David D’Arcy.